My Mother She Killed Me, My Father He Ate Me
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Authors: KATE BERNHEIMER
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Table of Contents
PENGUIN BOOKS
My Mother She Killed Me, My Father He Ate Me
KATE BERNHEIMER is the founder and editor of the literary journal
Fairy Tale Review
; the author of the story collection
Horse, Flower, Bird
as well as a children’s book and the novels
The Complete Tales of Ketzia Gold
and
The Complete Tales of Merry Gold
; and the editor of two anthologies,
Mirror, Mirror on the Wall: Women Writers Explore Their Favorite Fairy Tales
and
Brothers and Beasts: An Anthology of Men on Fairy Tales
. She has published stories in such journals as
Tin House
,
Western Humanities Review
, and
The Massachusetts Review
and has spoken on fairy tales in lecture series sponsored by the Museum of Modern Art, Ball State University Museum of Art, and the 92nd Street Y.
Fairy Tale Review
; the author of the story collection
Horse, Flower, Bird
as well as a children’s book and the novels
The Complete Tales of Ketzia Gold
and
The Complete Tales of Merry Gold
; and the editor of two anthologies,
Mirror, Mirror on the Wall: Women Writers Explore Their Favorite Fairy Tales
and
Brothers and Beasts: An Anthology of Men on Fairy Tales
. She has published stories in such journals as
Tin House
,
Western Humanities Review
, and
The Massachusetts Review
and has spoken on fairy tales in lecture series sponsored by the Museum of Modern Art, Ball State University Museum of Art, and the 92nd Street Y.
CARMEN GIMÉNEZ SMITH is the author of the poetry collection
Odalisque in Pieces
and the memoir
Bring Down the Little Birds
. She is also the publisher of Noemi Press and the editor in chief of the journal
Puerto del Sol
.
Odalisque in Pieces
and the memoir
Bring Down the Little Birds
. She is also the publisher of Noemi Press and the editor in chief of the journal
Puerto del Sol
.
GREGORY MAGUIRE is the bestselling author of
Wicked
, the basis for the Tony Award-winning Broadway musical of the same name. He lives in Boston, Massachusetts.
Wicked
, the basis for the Tony Award-winning Broadway musical of the same name. He lives in Boston, Massachusetts.
PENGUIN BOOKS
Published by the Penguin Group
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New Zealand (a division of Pearson New Zealand Ltd)
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Rosebank, Johannesburg 2196, South Africa
Published by the Penguin Group
Penguin Group (USA) Inc.,
375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014, U.S.A.
Penguin Group (Canada), 90 Eglinton Avenue East, Suite 700, Toronto,
Ontario, Canada M4P 2Y3 (a division of Pearson Penguin Canada Inc.)
Penguin Books Ltd, 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England
Penguin Ireland, 25 St Stephen’s Green, Dublin 2, Ireland
(a division of Penguin Books Ltd)
Penguin Group (Australia), 250 Camberwell Road, Camberwell,
Victoria 3124, Australia (a division of Pearson Australia Group Pty Ltd)
Penguin Books India Pvt Ltd, 11 Community Centre,
Panchsheel Park, New Delhi - 110 017, India
Penguin Group (NZ), 67 Apollo Drive, Rosedale, North Shore 0632,
New Zealand (a division of Pearson New Zealand Ltd)
Penguin Books (South Africa) (Pty) Ltd, 24 Sturdee Avenue,
Rosebank, Johannesburg 2196, South Africa
Penguin Books Ltd, Registered Offices:
80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England
80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England
First published in Penguin Books 2010
Selection and introduction copyright © Kate Bernheimer, 2010
Foreword copyright © Gregory Maguire, 2010
All rights reserved
Page 543 constitutes an extension of this copyright page.
PUBLISHER’S NOTE
These selections are works of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the authors’ imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
eISBN : 978-1-101-46438-0
CIP data available
The scanning, uploading and distribution of this book via the Internet or via any other means without the permission of the publisher is illegal and punishable by law. Please purchase only authorized electronic editions, and do not participate in or encourage electronic piracy of copyrighted materials. Your support of the author’s rights is appreciated.
For Angela Carter
Ours is a highly individualized culture, with a great faith in the work of art as a unique one-off, and the artist as an original, a godlike and inspired creator of unique one-offs. But fairy tales are not like that, nor are their makers. Who first invented meatballs? In what country? Is there a definitive recipe for potato soup? Think in terms of the domestic arts. “This is how
I
make potato soup.”
I
make potato soup.”
—ANGELA CARTER
INTRODUCTION
DESPITE ITS HEFT, THIS COLLECTION IS A TINY HALL OF MIRRORS IN the world’s giant house of fairy tales. Fairy tales comprise thousands of stories written by thousands of writers over hundreds of years. A volume published in the mid-twentieth century that purported to catalog every type of folktale in existence had more than twenty-five hundred entries; since then, countless new stories have joyously entered the world via new translations, folkloric research, and artists working in a multitude of forms.
Readers love fairy tales. Even the most virulent critics of fairy tales can’t look away. With their false brides, severed limbs, and talking donkeys, they are hypnotic. “All great novels are great fairy tales,” wrote Nabokov. I would argue that all great
narratives
are great fairy tales . . . whatever their shape (novel, novella, short story, poem).
narratives
are great fairy tales . . . whatever their shape (novel, novella, short story, poem).
About fifteen years ago, when I began to acquaint myself with the scholarship surrounding fairy tales in order to think about my own body of work within the tradition, I became aware of a fairy-tale resurgence. Soon after that I edited my first collection,
Mirror, Mirror on the Wall
—essays by women writers about the influence of fairy tales on their work. I also embarked on a trilogy of novels about the influence of fairy-tale books on three sisters. And now I am thrilled to see an even more widespread infatuation with wonder stories—in popular book series like J. K. Rowling’s
Harry Potter
, Philip Pullman’s
His Dark Materials
, and Gregory Maguire’s Oz books; in stand-alone novels such as Donna Tartt’s
The Little Friend
and A. S. Byatt’s
The Children’s Book
; on television, whether obviously, as in any number of vampire shows, or quietly, as in the shape and surreal motifs of
Six Feet Under
; and in film, where
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
and
Alice in Wonderland
are but two examples. Magic is in the air.
Mirror, Mirror on the Wall
—essays by women writers about the influence of fairy tales on their work. I also embarked on a trilogy of novels about the influence of fairy-tale books on three sisters. And now I am thrilled to see an even more widespread infatuation with wonder stories—in popular book series like J. K. Rowling’s
Harry Potter
, Philip Pullman’s
His Dark Materials
, and Gregory Maguire’s Oz books; in stand-alone novels such as Donna Tartt’s
The Little Friend
and A. S. Byatt’s
The Children’s Book
; on television, whether obviously, as in any number of vampire shows, or quietly, as in the shape and surreal motifs of
Six Feet Under
; and in film, where
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
and
Alice in Wonderland
are but two examples. Magic is in the air.
I was weaned on fairy tales. My grandfather, who may or may not have worked for Disney (nobody is certain) and who may or may not have worked with a Bostonian piano thief (we think he did), screened fairy-tale films in his basement for me and my siblings when we were young. The flying beds, cackling witches, and warbling birds shaped my being. In combination with terrifying Holocaust footage screened at my temple—and stories of burning bushes, singing “spring turtles,” and parting seas—the consolation of magical stories was directly imprinted on me. I was shy, happiest inside books; their open world beckoned and took me in.
Over the past seven years, as founder and editor of
Fairy Tale Review,
I have seen the passionate interest fairy tales hold for the thousands of writers who submit to every issue. I founded the journal out of a sense that literary works based on fairy tales, like the lonely heroes of fairy tales themselves, lacked homes. I was immediately flooded with very good manuscripts. Many hopeful correspondents are well-known authors whose magical works have been turned down by older literary publications; others are true believers and have devoted their lives to folklore in unusual ways—creating fairy-tale newspapers, selling homemade fairy-tale wares, producing freely distributed fairy-tale comics; still others are grandfathers, mothers, teachers, biologists, or students who as new writers feel comfortable trying on the fairy-tale form. I am touched by every submission; each shines with love for fairy tales.
Fairy Tale Review,
I have seen the passionate interest fairy tales hold for the thousands of writers who submit to every issue. I founded the journal out of a sense that literary works based on fairy tales, like the lonely heroes of fairy tales themselves, lacked homes. I was immediately flooded with very good manuscripts. Many hopeful correspondents are well-known authors whose magical works have been turned down by older literary publications; others are true believers and have devoted their lives to folklore in unusual ways—creating fairy-tale newspapers, selling homemade fairy-tale wares, producing freely distributed fairy-tale comics; still others are grandfathers, mothers, teachers, biologists, or students who as new writers feel comfortable trying on the fairy-tale form. I am touched by every submission; each shines with love for fairy tales.
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